Surviving a “Business Mental Block”

No matter how clever and quick on your feet you are, eventually you have to face the dreaded thing that threatens to dismantle every business: the mental block. You could be going through a perfectly solid plan, every step of the way a success, when suddenly you can’t come up with any answers to a certain aspect of your campaign.

That realization hits you like a ton of bricks. Why can’t you think of an answer? Didn’t you have all this planned out? What if you forgot something else? Is the whole thing falling apart? What if everything you’ve done to this point is complete BS?

Once these thoughts get into your head it’s all over. You doubt your very existence and curse the skies. It’s an incredibly hard cycle to break – unless you know how!

Writer’s Block

Every writer suffers from some sort of writer’s block at some point. At least, that’s what they call it. You’re writing your story or blog or whatever and suddenly the next point just doesn’t come. The character won’t speak to you or the business analogy you were making suddenly makes absolutely no sense and you have no backup.

It’s a terrifying feeling. You feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you. It can be especially bad when everything was going so well. You felt like you were on a streak and then BAM – you feel like all is lost.

The same goes for a business mental block. You can be riding the success wave straight to the top when you suddenly fall off the surfboard. It’s a long way down and you realize just how vulnerable you are. But is it the end of the world?

No, of course not. After a fall you just have to get right back up again.

Push Through

For writer’s block, one of the most useful pieces of advice I ever received was just to push through it. Most writers when confronted with a block simply throw their hands in the air with frustration and go to pick up another latte. What they should be doing instead is writing anything they can think of.

The simple act of putting words on paper (or in your laptop or whatever) motivates your brain to start thinking. Once you stop your brain can immediately be distracted by the fifty other tasks you need to do.

The same goes for your business mental block. Don’t just focus on the issue that stumped you – brainstorm as many cool ideas as you can. Go totally wild; it’s not like it matters, as nobody else will see it unless you want them to.

Eventually something in your head will click. It could just be a smidgen of an idea that MAY work for the problem you encountered. But it’s at least a start, and one you can possibly expand into a real solution.

When the chips are down, don’t be like so many other business owners who give up in frustration. Everything has a solution if you give it enough time and thought.